Health Inequities and COVID-19

The public health implications of the Coronavirus pandemic are more far reaching than any other health crisis experienced in modern history. While it has been documented that the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions are at greatest risk for higher mortality rates, recent evidence and research is also pointing low to socioeconomic status as a major driver. The intersection of race and economic status highlights these inequities in relationship to the Corinoavirus,  as African Americans, Latinx, Asian, and indigenous communities, as well as other vulnerable populations will likely carry the burden of this unprecedented health crises that will have far reaching consequences on the overall health, economy, education on low income communities of color.The Public Health Program at TUC acknowledges the following major impacts of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Outbreak on Communities of Color as identified by the NAACP:

1. 1. Racism and stigmatization have increased, particularly towards the Asian and Asian American populations.

   2. Certain populations including immigrants, incarcerated people, people over 60 years old, people with disabilities, people with special health needs, and others are at an added risk of exposure and other implications. 

   3. Frontline workers face tough choices between abstaining from work or risking exposure.

   4. Census and voting may be jeopardized as public outings continue to dwindle.

   5. Coronavirus remediation will result in increased exposure to toxic cleaning chemicals.

   6. Children and college students risk exposure in schools. If schools close, students may experience food or housing insecurities.

   7. There is a lack of accessibility to testing kits.

   8. Quarantine policies and practices are unfolding with a risk to human and civil rights.

   9. The coronavirus has already been used to justify increased militarization and more restrictive immigration policies and practices.

   10. Denial and misinformation on the crisis can worsen the outbreak.

Looking ahead, we are committed to working with our students and public health partners to investigate multi-layered solutions and approaches that contribute to equitable strategies to mitigate this unprecedented crises. We also continue to monitor the following resources for the most up-to-date information on the public health impacts of COVID-19.

https://www.cdc.gov

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/ncov2019.aspx

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/government-urged-to-release-race-ethnicity-data-on-covid-19-cases/2020/04/06/7891aba0-7827-11ea-b6ff-597f170df8f8_story.html

https://www.naacp.org/coronavirus/

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